In just over two weeks, Donald Trump will become the oldest newly elected President in the history of the United States. One look at his Twitter account and you'd think he'd be by far the youngest, and certainly the most immature, to ever take the office. How big of an ego -- or how tiny of something else -- does an elderly man have to have to take credit for the achievements of a 16-year-old girl?
Yesterday, Trump tweeted that the album sales of teenage classical singer Jackie Evancho have skyrocketed since announcing her performance at his inauguration. "Some people just don't understand the 'Movement'," typed the President-elect.
Evancho, a former contestant on "America's Got Talent," announced that she would be singing at the inauguration on Dec. 14. She is set to sing the national anthem, and thus far, she is the only known performer -- aside from a few large ensembles -- slated for the event. Of course, many of the most eminent faces of the music world are vehemently anti-Trump.
Evancho's latest album, Someday at Christmas, was released on Oct. 28. So, did the album's sales really "skyrocket" upon getting on the bill for Trump's inauguration? The album sold a reported 6,000 copies in the chart week ending Dec. 15, and for the week ending Dec. 22 -- following the inauguration announcement -- the album pulled in 11,000 copies. Sales declined to 8,000 for the week after that (Dec. 29).
Seeing that Someday at Christmas is a holiday album, some have noted that the spike is likely at least somewhat related to Christmas being around the corner. In fact, all holiday albums were up an average of 21 percent for the same week of Evancho's post-inauguration sales boost, reports Billboard. Evancho also performed on the "America's Got Talent" holiday special on Dec. 19.
On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart, Someday at Christmas sits at No. 134, down from her peak position of No. 93 for the previous week. It will be interesting to see if the album will experience a similar rise in sales after the actual inauguration -- that is, if Evancho is still set on performing for this man-child, who may very well deem his presence responsible for the beauty of her singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner."